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13 Comments

General CommentIt's a powerful song, a gut reaction to some of the horror stories we should by now all be familiar with about the abuse of women in the Middle East. Unfortunately, it only adds to a one-sided view of that culture, which has helped to justify recent wars. Terrible abuse of women does occur there - and it happens within wester cultures too. It might surprise some people, but most Arab women are not longing to be westernised.

General Comment"lash out at arab culture(?)" please save the histrionics. no culture is sacred or immune to criticism. the song ARABIAN NIGHTS is intelligent and thoughtful in it's critique and based on historical fact. white slavery, repression and deviant sex, oil spills, misogyny, all especially visible in arab culture past and present. siouxsie can trash ANY culture with accuracy and style, and she does. siouxsie "lashes out" at western culture in almost every song she writes, and we should be thankful, she is one of the few doing it intelligently. should poor little defenseless arab culture be protected from big bad souixsie? dry your tears, i think arab culture can survive the occasional criticism. in fact lack of criticism means no possibiltiy of change or growth. siouxsie's ARABIAN NIGHTS represents some of the best criticism there is, insightful, compelling, and most important of all, it is great music.

General CommentI don't see this as Siouxsie lashing out against Arab culture in general, but at the way women in the Arab world are sometimes treated. Siouxsie has never struck me as a racist person, but I could see how an assertive and intelligent Western woman like Siouxsie would be disgusted and upset by the abuses many women in Arabic countries suffer. However, I am not sure that this is all this song is really about in a thematic sense. SatB songs tend to have more complex meanings than what appears on the surface. "Hong Kong Garden" has been called a racist song, for example, but the truth is that it is exactly the opposite.

General CommentFirst read their upside down cd booklet. This song was written after their trip to the middle east. She found out that is a muslim women was caught being promiscuous they would be stone to death. Then she heard that a brother basically kidnapped his sister and smuggled her out of the country to keep her alive. He was a knight.

General CommentLook Skinner, WHAT makes you think that I view this song and/or Siouxsie in a negative light?!? ARABIAN KNIGHTS clearly expresses a VERY negative view of arab culture. DO NOT assume that I am scorning her for being politically incorrect! I was curious as to what inspired her to write this song. Was she speaking from her own personal experiences or from a political perspective. Moreover, had she ever been to an Arab country.

My InterpretationThis song is about female circumcision that is practised in Arabic countries. She doesn't hate Arabs, don't jump to conclusions. She is just against the practise. Re read the lyrics. "baby machine." Sound familiar?

General CommentI believe she's entitled to her subjective insights/criticisms/impressions, something that a great artist like her does in every song. The question of "who says what to whom", which quite often decides whether a statement/text is racist/offensive doesn't really apply to a critical lyricist like siouxie. I lament the absence of such great culturally-subversive art like hers today! Besides, the truly artistic and beautiful ambiguity of her lyrics keep them above petty racism. (for the record, I'm an Arab)

Song MeaningSIOUXSIE: "It’s nothing to do with a ‘feminist’ thing, it’s like a humane thing. Like how the Muslim women cope, I don’t know. The way women are treated in some religions, if it was a race being treated like that and not a sex, there would be uproar about it. I still haven’t overcome being a girl yet, as far as other people see me, and that’s very important. I think it’s happened a bit, but not enough." Source: NME 15/08/81

In this case, I believe it was direct exposure to it! Banshees did spend time in the Middle East. There are several critical observations on Arab culture. The closeting of women away from a full position in society and the double standards of Arabic Men being only the most obvious.

The oil tanker polluting the gulf is, of course, taking oil out of the gulf to power the western "democracies" - Including Siouxsie's. I suspect she was well aware of that.

For many people from Siouxsie's background (tentatively myself included), Arabia is an exotic and romantic place imagined from reading "Arabian Nights" and seeing "Laurence of Arabia" and little more. Discovering the reality of the Middle East (especially Saudi Arabia) comes as a nasty shock.

General CommentLook Skinner, WHAT makes you think that I view this song and/or Siouxsie in a negative light?!? ARABIAN KNIGHTS clearly expresses a VERY negative view of arab culture. DO NOT assume that I am scorning her for being politically incorrect! I was curious as to what inspired her to write this song. Was she speaking from her own personal experiences or from a political perspective. Moreover, had she ever been to an Arab country.